Panasonic Organic CMOS Image Sensor

Panasonic newly-developed image sensor technology : World's First Organic CMOS Image Sensor with Electrically Controllable Near-Infrared Light Sensitivity showcased at ISSCC 2017. Panasonic Corporation recently announced that it has developed a new technology, electrical control of the near infrared (NIR) light sensitivity of the same pixel in an organic CMOS image sensor. The sensitivity of all the pixels in the image sensor, which has directly stacked organic films, is simultaneously controlled by changing the applied voltage to the organic films. This technology enables to switch between modes of color imaging and NIR imaging frame by frame without a mechanical IR cut filter required for conventional image sensors. This contributes to miniaturizing a camera system and improving the robustness.

Organic CMOS Image Sensor
This newly-developed technology from Panasonic also enables global shutter operation . Therefore, it can be suitable for applications in various fields of industry such as machine vision or intelligent transportation system, in which fast and accurate inspection or recognition are necessary. The new technology has the following advantage: Frame by frame switching between color imaging mode and NIR imaging mode without the loss of resolution.

Panasonic image sensor technology
The development is based on the following technologies: The design technology of organic CMOS image sensors which enables to design the photoelectric conversion part and the readout circuit part independently, and the sensitivity control technology which enables frame by frame switching between color imaging mode and NIR imaging mode by changing the applied voltage to the photoelectric conversion part. Panasonic Corporation holds 94 Japanese patents and 68 overseas patents (including pending) related to these technologies. The company has showcased some part of these technologies at the 2017 international academic conference: ISSCC (International Solid-State Circuit Conference).